CASTRATION. 
II 
operator, and held in contact during a minute or two. It is 
rarely that any accident occurs from this mode of castrating. 
2. Pigs . — If the pig is not more than six weeks old, the same 
kind of incision is made at the bottom of the scrotum, the tes- 
ticle pushed out, and the cord cut without any precautionary 
means. If the animal is older, some hemorrhage may be feared, 
and it will be prudent to pass a ligature round the cord a little 
above the spot where the division is intended to be made. 
3. Dogs and Cats. — If very young, the testicle may here also 
be ’protruded, and the cord cut without any precaution ; but 
with regard to those that are older, and somewhat grown, it will 
be advisable to use a ligature. 
II. — Castration by the Cautery. 
This operation is only had recourse to for the horse and the 
bull. The operator makes his incision into the scrotum ; isolates 
the cord, and places the clams upon it above the epididymis, 
sufficiently tight to intercept the circulation : and then with a 
firing-iron with a sharp edge ( cautere en couteau) he cuts through 
the cord, between the clams and the testicles ; the eschar formed 
by the cautery prevents the bleeding. Sometimes, however, he 
cuts the cord in the same place with the common bistoury, 
and then applies a firing-iron of a rounded form ( cautere d bou- 
ton). Some advise to sprinkle a little powdered resin on the 
cord before the cautery is applied, but the resin is apt to pro- 
duce inflammation running on to gangrene. More cases of 
tetanus have occurred after the use of the resin, than when the 
simple cautery was relied on. 
Some persons have supposed that this mode of castration 
possesses advantages that surely cannot belong to it ; for 
whatever may be said, it is often followed by serious conse- 
quences, such as inflammation and enlargement of the cord 
and of the neighbouring parts, and also secondary hemorrhage 
from the premature dropping of the eschar. 
III. — C astration by tearing the Cord ( arrachement ). 
This mode of castration is safe for small and young animals. 
In some countries it is the only one employed for lambs ; but in 
larger and older animals it is apt to be followed by serious, and, 
sometimes, fatal hemorrhage. 
1. Lambs.— For these animals it is undoubtedly preferable to 
any other mode of operating. From the eighth to the fifteenth 
day after the birth is the preferable time for performing it. An 
assistant holds the lamb, pressing the back of the animal against 
